Tigers' bullpen squanders big lead in 11-inning loss to Royals

Sep 30, 2006 - 3:09 AM
DETROIT (Ticker) -- The Detroit Tigers picked a horrific time
to blow a five-run lead to the worst team in baseball.

Jamie Walker surrendered three homers in the 11th inning as the
Tigers' bullpen was torched for seven runs en route to a 9-7
defeat to the lowly Kansas City Royals.

Minnesota's 4-3 loss against the Chicago White Sox earlier
Friday left Detroit (95-65) tied for the top spot in the
American League Central Division, which took some of the sting
out of the defeat.

"Sure it does," Tigers closer Todd Jones said. "We're obviously
trying to win as many games as we can. So when they lose, try
to take advantage of it. But if you stumble, you're kind of
hoping they stumble too."

But Detroit hardly has anything to smile about as the team
suffered one of its worst losses of the season. If the teams
finish in a tie, the Tigers win the division title because they
captured the season series against the Twins.

The Tigers held a 5-0 cushion after three innings and still were
clinging to a three-run lead in the seventh. Relievers Jason
Grilli, Joel Zumaya and Jones allowed runs in the seventh,
eighth and ninth, respectively, to allow Kansas City to tie the
contest.

"We didn't add on runs for the longest time. We kind of stalled
out," Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. "They kept pecking
away at the bullpen a little bit. We just didn't hold on to
it."

In the 11th, Walker (0-1) surrendered back-to-back homers to
Emil Brown and rookie Paul Phillips to open the frame. Jeff
Keppinger added a two-run blast later in the inning to give the
Royals a 9-5 lead.

"When you're down five runs, you keep edging back and trying to
get one run here, two runs there, until you get back into it,"
Phillips said. "We did that until the ninth inning and we ended
up getting the one run we needed to tie."

Detroit received a two-run single from Carlos Guillen in the
11th. But with two runners on, Ivan Rodriguez hit into a
game-ending double play to seal the Tigers' third straight loss.

Zack Greinke (1-0) tossed three scoreless innings to pick up the
win.

"Things worked out and they deserve it," said Royals bench coach
Billy Doran, the interim manager in place of Buddy Bell, who
had a cancerous growth removed from his left tonsil on September
22. "It's nice to see them smile. We'll enjoy this one."

The defeats by Minnesota and Detroit helped clinch home-field
advantage throughout the postseason for the New York Yankees.